Hello Vince Daniels Fans!

BROADCAST DATE: January 27th, 2007

I had the great pleasure of appearing on the Vince Daniels radio show yesterday. I was a last minute replacement after Greg Beha received a hefty settlement from Scientology’s front group, Narconon. Greg got his money back and signed a gag order. That left Vinnie with a huge whole in his show which I tried to fill with a whole lot of me.

In case you didn’t catch it, you can listen to the show on Vinnie’s site or check out my segment here.

Right after college, I worked in radio as the morning guy on a station in the mid-west. I was never a fan of radio growing up. Never listened to much of it at all. I stumbled into it because of my love of old radio shows. On my college station, I did a weekly half hour comedy show with actors and music and sound effects.

It was a salute to the golden age of radio drama called “The Air Adventures of Little Orphan Armstrong!” It had a Rocky and Bullwinkle format and sensibility. Each show was bookended with a chapter in the ongoing saga of retired flying ace Captain Jack, local mailman and friend to all Uncle Gus and a plucky newborn babe wearing a decoder diaper, Little Orphan Armstrong who had the answers to any and all problems. Between the chapters were segments spoofing soap operas, westerns, detective shows and so on.

This drew the attention of a local commercial station who hired me to be their morning guy where I did things I had no real interest in doing, like spinning records, hosting swap meets and even playing Radio Bingo. This was not Howard Stern time, folks, but very similar to the first station you see Howard working at in his movie “Private Parts.”

The station was in a converted house with the sales staff working in the basement, while my studio was in what I’m sure was once a bedroom. I used to announce that the show was coming from the penthouse headquarters of our massive broadcasting complex but, in reality, I could look out the ground floor window at the unmowed field in its rural midwest setting.

It was a small station in a small market and I used to joke that we’d get knocked off the air when a neighbor down the street plugged in a toaster and the coffee pot at the same time. I would do some sketches on the show but I was primarily doing the stuff that the station wanted me to do. I tried to bring my sensibility to it but ultimately it wasn’t something I was particularly suited for, interested in or made me happy.

Vince Daniels, on the other hand, is passionate about radio. He gets it. He loves it. He embraces the chance to connect with an audience and to try to make the world a little bit better with every broadcast. We went out to lunch after the show yesterday and it was clear that Vinnie is wholeheartedly committed to his show and wants to use it to reach out and help others. I admire that.

It was a lot of fun appearing on his show and even more fun chatting over lunch about big and small issues from politics to the media. From Bush, the Clintons and the 2008 election to Jack Benny, Burns and Allen and St. Elsewhere.

I’m going to come back on his show soon and I’m looking forward to it. I think I started out a little slow yesterday, being frazzled by the late arrival. By the time I got comfy, the show was over.

In case you haven’t heard the earlier shows Vince has done on Scientology and Narconon, I have them archived here:

Before leaving to do the show yesterday, I put together a quick reference guide to some of the videos or topics I thought we might discuss.

Here are a collection of newscasts on Narconon. These stories deal with Narconon setting up a rehab facility on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma. The editor of a small weekly newspaper, Bob Lobsinger, wrote a series of terrific articles about the event and the uncovering of the Scientology connection. I highly recommend reading these articles.

Of course, the best place to find out about Narconon is the website of Dr. David Touretzky.

For info on Lisa McPherson, including tv shows and court transcripts, check here.

3 Comments on “Hello Vince Daniels Fans!”

You did great Mark. This could have been a real disaster with Greg not showing up. Thanks for fighting the traffic and doing the show. I think it was better with you on it anyway. You know far more than Greg about scientolgy and all its front group.
Great job!

Job well done Mark. With your great voice that was made for radio and all the experience you have with the cult, I couldn’t think of a better person to do the show with Vince and I hope you guys can join forces again sooner than later. Thanks for everything you’ve done to expose the con Mark!

PS. Thanks to Barb, Arnie, and the other critics who were part of the show.

Thank you, Mark. I do hope you become a regular guest on this program as you have a very personable and respectful quality about your dialog. You come across very well and receptive to people which I believe has a dramatic impact. Yours is a credible voice among critics.